I am ever so pleased when I see you, Julian: you look well. You have left behind the worried eyebrows you wore for some time. I know Melissa and you are reconciled. I can tell from your look, and hers. And I know what you think, she’s perfect, isn’t she? She’s no ghost from the past, that young woman, but someone who cares for you, who admires your work, who follows your progress. She reads what you write, she’s made comments on her page. She’d follow you everywhere if you were alone. I’m smiling as I say this. She cannot and would not compete with Sarah; they also love each other very much…

I now think that the past matters very little. Yes, of course, you have your memories, but you live in the present, don’t you? At best, those images – for that is what they are – are a mere backdrop, perhaps material for your writing. Your life is now. 

Sarah says what you learnt from Gabrielle and Helga has made you think again. I am glad. Hopefully this will find its way in your writing, too. Not as a remembrance of things past, but as a tale of our futures. 

You know that Melissa and I are lovers. Looking back at our first meeting on Chi, it was inevitable. She cannot love you as she no doubt wanted, so there is me, your sister. I sense your puzzlement, but, this way, she won’t trouble you. And I must say I don’t regret anything. She’s a wonderful companion. She loves Sarah, and, yes, she still thinks of you as the unattainable young man she, or whoever preceded her, knew long ago.

But let’s not stir the nostalgia. We enjoy our relationship, Melissa and me, and I love you deeply, brother. Melissa says that Helga was impressed by Sarah and you, the way you listen. I understand that she – Melissa – and Helga are often corresponding. She also said that to understand the science the Coven has at their disposal, you need to think of nanotechnology, the art of minuscule molecule-level engineering. They are working at the pico level, making engines from particles, building new assemblies with those electrons and pions our physicists are still struggling with. 

You know the recent asteroid, the one that crashed in the Urals, breaking a lot of glass? Melissa said that, while she could not be sure, she thought the Coven uses asteroids to spread planets with small “observers,” tiny recording devices that feed back all sorts of measurements, not only in the visible light spectrum, to their labs…

 Amazing, isn’t it? I can see that Melissa admires them, with reason. By the way, Helga will pay a visit here soon. Melissa will let us know when and where. I love you.

Your sister, Jane.

Picture: Floating Dimensions, by Karen

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